A LABEL FABLE

Once upon a time….there were two little boys.

When they were young, they could eat Old Mother Frugal out of house and home. It didn’t matter that they started out as picky eaters; they more than made up for it in the pre-teen and teen years.

Batch cooking and freezing has been a principle of cooking for years. When the boys were home, instead of labeling meals with their recipe title, Old Mother Frugal resorted to labels that read: “DO NOT EAT”.

As they grew and moved on to homes of their own, the habit of labeling food as “DO NOT EAT” ceased and recipe titles replaced it.

Then one day, it happened. Dinner was missing.

One of Mother’s Little Helpers came home to visit and helped himself to the contents of the refrigerator. Normally, Old Mother Frugal wouldn’t have cared except he ate dinner… as a snack. Temporary amnesia must have set in as dinner did not have a label.

There is a happy ending to the story.

He didn’t eat ALL the meals in the refrigerator. Batch cooking saved the day!

Upon his next visit home, yellow Post-It notes appeared on the meals in the refrigerator. This time, each container was labeled with its recipe name.

Welcome home, little helper!

 

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: When storing meals in a freezer, if using any glass-type container, defrost the meal in the refrigerator first and do not place it directly into the oven or microwave. You risk shattering the glass container and ruining a perfectly delicious meal. Recycle old newspapers or aluminum foil to wrap the meals to prevent freezer burn, label and store in the freezer.